In this post we’ll highlight various factors to keep in mind when planning your podcasts, helping you to determine how long your podcast episodes should be.
The response is that it depends.
The length of your podcast is up to you as long as it keeps your listeners interested in what you’re producing.
Your podcast’s length will also vary depending on its topic, niche, or genre. It might be the ideal length for your listeners to be between 15 and 20 minutes. However, if your target audience wants more in-depth, exploratory information, 45–90 minutes would be more beneficial.
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What’s the Average Podcast Length?
Podcast episodes last 36 minutes on average.
However, that figure was calculated in December 2019. Since shorter podcasts appear to be more popular, it is likely that the average podcast length has decreased.
Not just the listener’s time is a factor in the decision to make podcasts shorter. You can podcast more frequently thanks to them as well. The majority of people prefer to listen to a topic in one sitting. On the other hand, many of us are happy to stop and start longer podcasts over a period of time.
A great example of a short, popular podcast is Radio Headspace. Producing daily podcasts of around 4-5 minutes, subscribers can tune in anytime for some positive mindfulness.
Successful longer podcasts include The Joe Rogan Experience. Joe, a well-known US comedian, martial artist, TV host, and actor, conducts interviews with a wide range of guests about just about anything, including aerospace entrepreneurs, filmmakers, authors, comedians, and many others. Even though Joe has a massive following of thousands, his podcasts frequently last three hours or longer.
Benefits of Shorter Podcasts
Let’s face it, we have a ton of options when it comes to podcasts. So, here are six good reasons why opting to do shorter podcasts can be better:
- When searching for a particular subject, people often choose the shortest one
- Shorter podcasts mean extra time to produce more episodes; more episodes mean publishing at a greater frequency – daily or weekly
- Regular, frequent podcasts help to grow your subscriber list
- People are busy. With less time to commit, your audience is more likely to listen to the end and keep coming back for more
- Conversely, binge listening to podcast episodes is as popular as binge watching boxsets, helping to keep your audience engaged
- Shorter podcasts often fit in with daily walks, runs or work commutes
Benefits of Longer Podcasts
Having longer podcasts can show that you are a thought leader in your field. Additionally, they enable you to delve more deeply into your subject. As a result, you produce engaging content that keeps your listeners interested in what you have to say, engaged, and subscribed. Longer podcasts will:
- Provide you with the time to discuss a topic in more detail
- Allow you to interview other industry specialists or special guests
- Give you an opportunity to cover multiple topics or segments per episode
- Help your audience trust you as someone who knows what they’re talking about
- Entertain and educate people when on long car journeys or doing mindless chores around the house or garden
- Keep your audience subscribed
Don’t forget: don’t be monotonous! If you can’t keep your listeners interested, there’s no point in producing a 90-minute podcast. You’re more likely to lose subscribers than gain any. Never fail to leave them wanting more.
What’s Your Subject Matter?
Regardless of your podcast topic, you’re the subject matter expert (or your guests are). As a result, you have a gut feeling when you’ve said everything you needed to say.
But on occasion, you’ll probably get the feeling that you’ve said everything you wanted to say, but it still doesn’t feel long enough. You might wonder if it will look too short when people see it next to your long episodes in Apple Podcasts or other directories.
In this instance, we advise staying with the gold. If you have 20 minutes of excellent content that you could extend into an hour of bronze, we advise sticking with the gold. Do not lengthen an episode merely by including filler.
The number of engaging episodes you can consistently produce on your topic should be reflected in their length.
How Much Time Can You Invest?
It can be difficult to fit your passions in between work, family, friends, and other obligations because life is busy. Which raises the question: How much time and energy can you invest in your podcast?
Be sincere with yourself! After all, you can’t run a successful podcast if you experience podfade after five episodes.
One solution is to delegate tasks to a co-host or pay a professional to edit your audio files.
Do you need to go through the tedious process of uploading, transcribing, and posting new episode links to your social media channels? Or is there a freelancer you could employ to complete that task and save you time?
If you believe that it is appropriate for your podcast, outsourcing some tasks can free up time so that you can create more content.
How Often Do You Publish?
More episodes released less frequently may not always be better for your podcast’s publishing schedule.
When it comes to podcasting, quality is always preferred over quantity.
Publishing one longer episode that gets 500 downloads is better than publishing three 30-minute podcast episodes a week that each get 100 downloads.
Infinite queue (also known as “the infinite queue”) loss is another unintended consequence of releasing too many episodes. “I’ll listen to that later” land).
A listener may become discouraged by the amount of time it will take to catch up and decide not to because unheard episodes quickly accumulate.
Make necessary adjustments if your target audience can’t watch three episodes per week. Your podcast shouldn’t be left hanging in the air!
How to Work Out the Best Length for Your Episodes?
We wouldn’t recommend restricting your episodes to a specific X minutes and Y seconds. Although consistency is good, too much of it can be detrimental. Having said that, you can definitely determine a general amount to shoot for.
When determining the ideal length for you and your podcast, keep in mind the following three suggestions.
Define Your Content’s Purpose
What do you hope to accomplish with your podcast? Choosing the ideal episode length can be greatly aided by having a clear idea in mind. Consider making your episodes brief and snappy if, for instance, your podcast teaches different languages. Your audience’s attention may be held longer thanks to this. On the other hand, if you’re interviewing guests, longer episodes often make more sense.
Consider Your Publishing Schedule
If you intend to release multiple episodes each week, keeping each one brief will (hopefully) whet listeners’ appetites and keep them coming back for more. Longer episodes immediately demand more time from the listener, which can be quite off-putting if you ask them to listen to two or more per week. Making them longer is more acceptable if, however, you plan to release episodes on a weekly basis.
How Much Time Can You Spend?
Finding out what works for both the listener and you, the host, is equally important. The episodes are created by you through recording and editing. And you need enough time each week to complete a job well. It’s okay if you can only devote yourself to 10-minute episodes in real life. Don’t overcommit and fall behind on your publication schedule because of time pressure.
Summary: How Long Should a Podcast Be?
Has our interest piqued yours? We can assist you if you’ve realized the value of podcasting, whether you’re a charity, law firm, or SME.
You record at your location or in our studio. We handle all of the editing, hosting, and post-production. Then you watch the subscribers pour in!